The Baroness and the Pine Cone
by Shahrazad63
Summary: Why was the Captain so fascinated by that pine cone? Disclaimer: I don t own anything, “The Sound of Music” and anything related to it included. This is just a writing exercise.
1. Chapter 1

_"Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had felt the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty eider-down beds. _

_Nobody but a real princess could be as sensitive as that. _

_So the prince took her for his wife, for now he knew that he had a real princess; and the pea was put in the museum, where it may still be seen, if no one has stolen it. _

_There, that is a true story." _

_Hans Christian Andersen _

He had been the first to arrive at the dining room that evening, and he saw the pinecone in the governess chair.

The children!

Scowling, he took the offending object in his hands, with every intention of putting it inside his pocket, then lecture the children about it after dinner, when a wave of memories washed over him.

Lately, whenever they decided to play a new trick on a governess, it wasn´t unusual that they would do something that reminded him of their mother. Little things, but the connection was always there. It was clever, almost to the point of being wicked.

And he knew very well who was the mastermind.

Louisa. Among all the seven children, his daughter was the one who knew how to hit him where it hurt the most.

The pinecone story was part of the von Trapp family chronicles, and in the good old days, Agathe loved to share it with their children. Particularly Louisa, who would ask her mother to repeat it night after night, because of its resemblance the princess and the pea fairy tale. Only that it was more interesting, in their opinion.

It all began as a joke between the Captain and his grandmother, when Georg was trying to make up his mind about proposing to Agathe. He never doubted he loved her, but he also knew his role in life well, and what was expected of him. Marrying purely out of love was a luxury the von Trapp´s had not been able to afford for generations. Then his grandmother, whom he always knew to be a hopeless romantic, mentioned the fairy tale.

"Are you suggesting a pea under her mattress?" Georg asked irritably.

"Heavens, no! Naturally you need something more… obvious".

"Such as?"

"Don´t sneer like that, Georg! I am serious. Just put a… a pinecone in her chair during a formal dinner party and watch her carefully as she deals with the situation. That should tell you everything you need to know".

"Grandmama, don´t you think I am too old to believe in fairy tales?"

"As I am too old not to believe them. You would be surprised, trust me. There is more to these children´s stories than you think. You´ll see," the old woman winked.

Georg thought his grandmother´s idea was too ludicrous, too… nonsensical to be taken seriously. But then, when the time came, he found himself in the Vienna woods in the middle of the night, hunting for the thorniest, nastiest pinecone he could find.

The next evening, he escorted Miss Agathe Whitehead to the table. How would she behave in a room full of aristocrats, dignitaries, diplomats, not to mention a couple of crowned heads? He held his breath.

And then…

Except for a slightly raised eyebrow, she did not move a muscle. Her eyes widened a bit in surprise, but that might have been only his imagination. Then she turned to him and gave him her brightest, most perfect smile. Agathe reacted to his prank like the lady he knew her to be.

_This is ridiculous,_ he thought. The prank only told him what he already knew, it changed nothing. The decision had already been made weeks before, he only had not been brave enough to go through with it. With his mind firmly set, he proposed to her that same evening, knowing it was the right thing to do. The only thing to do. He had never believed the silly pinecone incident had nothing to do with his decision to marry, but when he told his wife the story during their honeymoon, she thought it was so romantic that she chose to believe it had…

It was only when they were celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary that Agathe confessed that she had cheated. She had seen the pinecone, had seen him putting it there. When she sat down, she brushed it aside.

"The look in your face was as priceless then as it is now," she finished laughing. "Cheer up, darling. That is the one secret I´ve managed to keep from you all my life. My only victory against that cunning mind of yours!"

They laughed about it. And the pinecone tale was forgotten for a very long time.

Until that evening, when the 12th in the line of governess first came to the house. Fraülein Maria, who looked nothing like a governess, who looked even less like a nun in training, but very much like a tomboy. A troublemaker. He had met her for less than ten minutes earlier that day, and already listed more reasons why he should not keep her as a governess to his children that he cared to number. Outspoken, loud, no respect for authority, no self discipline whatsoever, nosy, appalling taste in clothes (although he had to admit that might not have been her fault)… He cringed when he thought about what kind of influence such a… such a wisp of a girl would have over his children.

Only time would tell. In any case, he would have a serious talk with the Reverend Mother about the so-called postulant she had thought could be made into a governess when he returned from Vienna. What had the woman been thinking? Didn´t she know him and his family well enough to send such a girl to his home?

Captain von Trapp stared at the pinecone in his hands for a moment. He had been holding it too tight and it bit into his palms. Thinking about the new governess had annoyed him inexplicably. Then he shrugged. It should not concern him so much. All he had to do was fire, whenever he felt like it. This evening, if he needed to. He did not have to be burdened with such a troublesome employee for no longer than it was necessary. He never had before, and never would.

With a mischievous inner smile, he returned the pinecone to the same spot where his daughter had carefully placed it a few minutes before.

Who knows? It might help him to find a suitable governess…


	2. Chapter 2

A/N:

_Thank you for your lovely reviews! It was such a huge incentive to me, that, there will be more stories on the way, just wait and see._

_For those reviewers who asked for it, here it is – a new chapter. __I was not planning to continue this one, but something made it unavoidable. I love symbolism, and because of the great reviews I received, I felt compelled to do some online research. I found a few interesting facts about pine cones that just had to be a part of this…_

_Enjoy!_

After dinner, the Captain went to the one place in his house where he could brood in peace – his study. It was his sanctuary, probably because it was the only room in the house where Agathe´s influence was not so visible. It was his own, personal space, and she had always understood that. It was true that wherever he looked there were memories – of the sea, of war – but no visible reminder of the love he had lost. Those he kept locked in the first drawer of his desk.

He tried to concentrate on latest submarine whose design he was working on, and the problems that still had to be fixed, in order to make it adaptable to new, state of the art, sonar technologies. _Silence_ was the key, he thought. Whatever he did with it, the boat had to be _silent_, in order to avoid detection by the enemy. Even if they allowed women inside submarines, certainly no Navy in the world would want that Fraülein Maria in their crew – although it would be a fine way to sabotage them. He chuckled at the thought. Make her a double agent and infiltrate her in one the enemy submarine crews. Five minutes and they would have all the allied fleet chasing the enemy boat, considering the impressive amount of decibels she had managed to produce when she sat at the dinner table…

Suddenly, he wasn´t thinking about the sea anymore. And he was _not _thinking about a certain so-called _governess._ At least he was trying hard not to.

The Captain was thinking about the important issue of _pine cones_.

He remembered that conversation with his grandmother, when she had suggested it to play the prank on his bride to be. She had been a very astute, cunning woman. She never said things gratuitously, without having a good reason for it. If she had suggested a pine cone, then there had to be something behind it, a small detail that made it meaningful. Otherwise it would be any other object – a fork, a sharp rock would do just fine, and easier to find in downtown Vienna in the middle of the night.

Following the train of his thoughts, his eyes then wandered to a small collection of books he kept in a separate shelf. His grandfather's books, about heraldry – he had a passion for the subject. The Trapp family crest held a special fascination for him, and Georg remembered when, as a little boy, his grandfather would talk about it for hours, explaining every tiny little detail, every symbol, every line. The Captain never guessed his grandmother shared her husband's interest; she never gave any indication of that – on the contrary, she would joke about it. But maybe…

Resolutely, the Captain walked to the shelf and picked up a large and particularly dusty volume. It was an old encyclopedia of heraldry, one of his grandfather's favorite books, and one which he carried everywhere and was always consulting. It contained the main symbols used in family crests in Europe. He opened it at the letter "P" and began his research.

_Pansies… _

"_A colorful flowering plant. Pansy divination was said to be a method of fortune telling supposedly used by the Knights of the Round Table. It involved randomly picking a petal off a pansy and looking at its markings. Denotes love, freedom of thought and reflection, and also of good fortune_."

He had always thought the colorful little flowers were too fragile and delicate for his taste, but… _Freedom of thought,_ indeed! Interesting. That governess looked like him to be the kind who would love the silly flowers, judging by the inappropriate way she chose to speak her mind.

He cursed – why was he even thinking about the silly creature?

He continued his search.

_Phoenix…_

"_The mythical bird that lives for 500 years, builds its own funeral pyre, is consumed by the flames, and rises anew from the ashes. This bearing symbolizes the rising and setting of the sun, as well as immortality, resurrection, and life after death."_

Life after death… Agathe!

_No,__ no, not now,_ he muttered to himself, banishing the disturbing thoughts from his troubled mind.

_Pigeon, pike, pillar, pineapple, pincers…_

_Pine cones!_

There it was.

"_The tree of life and humanity. A pine tree in the forest symbolizes long-suffering, steadfast friendships, and enduring fame. According to Virgil, early Romans decorated pine trees with little masks of Bacchus (a fertility god). As the wind blew the masks around, Bacchus was believed to grant fertility to every part of the tree the masks faced. It is said to symbolize immortality, resiliency, longevity, and rebirth..."_

Hah! He knew it!

He closed the book with a loud thud. There was a smug look in his face, because he had deciphered another one of his grandmother's enigmas. So there was a reason why she had chosen that particular object. Knowing his grandmother he knew it had not been picked at random. He read the entry over and over again. Clever woman, his grandmother – not that he had ever doubted that.

_Fertility gods!_

Still trying to keep a scientific approach, he looked at entries in similar books, and the words he read danced in his mind.

_Inflammable nature… fire… __an emblem of…_

Of _what?!_ He had to read the word twice. His eyes widened, and he threw the small book away, shaking his head, but smiling mischievously.

_Grandmother!_

Well, he should have guessed, shouldn't he? He reached for another heavy volume.

_Union of positive and negative forces… a talisman of abundance, fecundity, good luck… a symbol of Artemis, among the ancient Greeks…_

Closing his eyes, he made an effort to recall what he knew about Greek mythology.

_Artemis, or Diana, goddess of light, protector of the vulnerable__… The moon goddess… Maiden divinity… _

Sitting back in his chair, he allowed the flood of information gathered in his memory t flow freely.

_Protectress of the young… __Quick to defend the powerless… Allowed by her father Zeus to live without having to be distracted by love and marriage… Granted permission not to have to dress like a lady… Had the task of bringing light into the world… Was given all the mountains on the earth to live on… Untamed spirit… Able to bring down the most terrible of beasts… Fierce in the protection of gentle creatures… Impulsive… Punished those who tried to thwart her commitment to reaching her goals or invaded her privacy…_

It had a little to do with Agathe, he had to admit. Some parts just did not match. Never dressed as a lady… his late wife had always been known in their social circle for her elegance and poise. Untamed, impulsive… Who, his Agathe? No, never.

However…

He had met her only for a few hours, but he believed himself to be a good judge of character. And what he remembered of Artemis, the moon goddess, was a perfect description of…

He never knew if it was the thought, or the noise he heard, coming from upstairs, that made him stand up, with a jolt.

Irritably, he ran towards the source of the inopportune sounds. Laughter, singing… He had to deal with it _at once._

And yet, something told him that it would not be the last time he would find himself brooding about pine cones and Greek goddesses.

A/N:

_All "quotations" between in this chapter were extracted from the website "Armorial Gold Heritage Dictionary"._


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